Official Statistics

Community Life Survey: Technical report Appendix A - Composition of questionnaire in comparison to CLS 2021/22

Published 8 May 2024

Applies to England

This section contains a summary of the Community Life Survey 2023/24 questionnaire changes in comparison to the last survey year, 2021/22.

Community Life Survey 2023/24 questionnaire

Question name (online survey)	Brief description	New or amended for CLS 2023/24	Modular sample group	Equivalent question in paper questionnaire	New to paper in 2023/24	Used for Pride in Place/Life Chances
NUMADULTS	Number of adults in HH	Answer code 10 as ‘10+’, allowing answers greater than 10.		Q1		Yes
NAMADULT	Gathering info on HH makeup
DVAGE	Age of respondent			Q4		Yes
AGEIF3	Age of respondent if not given exact	First code 16-19 broken into 16-17 & 18-19 No answer code for DK	Q5		Yes
SEX	Sex of respondent	Wording changed so that this question is asking about Sex alone, with another question about Gender -therefore answer codes for DK and ‘Identify in some other way’ have been removed.		Q2		Yes
GENDERI	Gender identity			Q3	NEW	Yes
MARS	Marital status	Updated wording at codes 1, 3 and 9 (to align with harmonised version of question)		Q6		Yes
LIVE	Living as couple			Q7	NEW	Yes
NCHIL	No. children under 16 in HH			Q8		Yes
NCHIL2	No. of children under 16 in HH who are respondent’s					Yes
BCAGE31-10 (option for one child)	Age of child under 16 in HH					Yes
BCAGE31-10 (option for multiple children)	Age of children under 16 in HH					Yes
REL	People living in HH	Answer codes added for Parents and Grandparents.
SRace	Ethnic group of friends
SFaith	Religious group of friends	Replace word ‘faith’ with ‘religious’ at code 5
Sage	Age group of friends
SEduc	Education level of friends
RelMix	Places of interaction with people from other religious groups		Group 1
EthMix	Places of interaction with people from other ethnic groups		Group 1
FrndRel1	Frequency of social engagements in person			Q9 - presented as a grid
FrndRel2	Frequency of social interaction by phone, internet etc.			Q9 - presented as a grid
FrndRel3	Frequency of social interaction by email or letter			Q9 - presented as a grid
FrndRel4	Frequency of social interaction by SMS/instant message			Q9 - presented as a grid
FrndSat1	Agree-disagree scale - people to help if needed		Group 1
FrndSat2SR	Agree-disagree scale - people to socialise with		Group 1
Counton1	People to count on if needed?		Group 1
SBeNeigh	Strength of belonging to immediate neighbourhood			Q10		Yes
SLive	Time lived in neighbourhood			Q11
Age Check	Age vs. time lived in neighbourhood
SchatN	Interaction with neighbours			Q12
NBarr	Why not chat more often with neighbours?		Group 1
SFavN	Agree-disagree scale - borrow things & exchange with neighbours			Q13
NComfort1	Comfort asking neighbours to have spare keys		Group 1
NComfort2	Comfort asking neighbours to watch children		Group 1
NComfort3	Comfort asking neighbours to collect shopping		Group 1
SPull	Agree-disagree scale - pull together to improve neighbourhood			Q14		Yes
STrust	Trust in people in neighbourhood			Q15		Yes
STrustGen2	People can be trusted		Group 1
Slocsat	Satisfied-dissatisfied scale - local area as place to live			Q16		Yes
STogeth	Agree-disagree scale - people from different backgrounds in local area get on			Q17		Yes
BetWors2	Has area improved or got worse last two years?			Q18		Yes
SBeNeighL	Strength of belonging to local area	NEW		Q19	NEW	Yes
SPullL	Agree-disagree scale - pull together to improve neighbourhood (local area)	NEW				Yes
STrustL	Trust in people in neighbourhood (local area)	NEW				Yes
CivPart	Last 12 months - public service engagement			Q20		Yes
Partoft	Last 12 months - public service engagement frequency			Q21	NEW	Yes
CivConsult	Last 12 months - consultation engagement			Q22
Conoft	Last 12 months - consultation engagement frequency
CivAct1	Last 12 months - public office role			Q23		Yes
CivAct2	Last 12 months - public group position			Q24		Yes
PAffLoc	Agree-disagree scale - influence on local area decisions			Q25
PInfl	Importance scale - influence on local area decisions			Q26
PCSat	More involvement in local council decisions (Y/N)
PIfHow	Ways to be more involved in local area decisions		Group 3
PIfEas	Ways to make it easier to be more involved in local area decisions		Group 3
Assets2_grid	Proximity to local amenities	NEW		Q27	NEW	Yes
SatAsset	Satisfied-dissatisfied scale - local services and amenities		Group 1	Q28		Yes
Assets3	Facilities used in last 12 months	NEW		Q29	NEW	Yes
LibraryFreq	How often used library (if used library)	NEW		Q30	NEW	Yes
CNArtP1	Reasons for not using local facilities in last 12 months	NEW				Yes
Qshops	Satisfaction with shops in local area	NEW		Q31	NEW	Yes
Retailsat	Why satisfied with local shops?	NEW		Q32	NEW	Yes
Retaildis	Why dissatisfied with local shops?	NEW		Q33	NEW	Yes
CharServ	Charity services used last 12 months
CharServ_other	Charity services used last 12 months - other
FGroupA-FGroupP	Involvement in groups, clubs & organisations last 12 months			Q34
P_Oth	Involvement in groups, clubs & organisations last 12 months - other
FInfo	Section intro
FUnPd	Last 12 months - involvement in groups, clubs & organisations			Q35
FUnOft	Last 12 months - involvement in groups, clubs & organisations - frequency			Q36
FUnHrs	Hours spent helping groups, clubs & organisations in last 4 weeks		Group 2
FIndGpA	How found opportunities to help groups, clubs & organisations		Group 2
MxFVol2	People mixed with whilst helping last 12 months
MxFVol3	People mixed with whilst helping last 12 months - frequency
VolBen	Reasons for helping groups, clubs & organisations		Group 2
VolUnPd	Volunteering in arts/culture last 12 months		Group 2
BVLon	Last 5 years - roles with groups, clubs & organisations		Group 2
VYFreq	Past - roles with groups, clubs & organisations - frequency		Group 2
VYStop	Reasons for stopping		Group 2
BVHelp	Would like to spend more time helping groups, clubs & organisations?		Group 2
VBarr	Reasons for not helping groups, clubs & organisations	Answer code for ‘Due to COVID-19 restrictions or concerns’ removed.	Group 2
IIntro1	Section intro			Section 9 intro
IHIp	Last 12 months - helping non-relatives with tasks			Q37
IHIpOft	Last 12 months - helping non-relatives with tasks - frequency			Q38
IHIpHrs	Last 12 months - helping non-relatives with tasks - hours spent last 4 weeks		Group 2
GIntro1	Section intro		Group 3
GGroup	Last 4 weeks - ways given to charity		Group 3
GivAmt	Last 4 weeks - amount given to charity		Group 3
CausLN	Last 4 weeks - charity types donated to		Group 3
LocAtt	Agree-disagree scale - people can get involved and change area			Q44
LocInvNew2	Last 12 months - community improvements involved in			Q45		Yes
LocPeopNew	Last 12 months - awareness of other involved in community improvements		Group 3
LocAct	Last 12 months - ways involved in community improvements		Group 3
LocOft	Last 12 months - ways involved in community improvements - frequency			Q46		Yes
LocHow	How found out about community improvements involved in		Group 3
LocMot2	Reasons for getting involved in community improvements		Group 3
LocWant	Would R have liked to be involved in community improvements?		Group 3
LocBarr1	Reasons for not getting involved in community improvements		Group 3
Attract	How attractive is local area	NEW		Q39	NEW	Yes
Pride_D1-3	Attitudes re: pride in local area	NEW		Q40	NEW	Yes
QprideA	Why proud to live in local area	NEW		Q41	NEW	Yes
QprideD	Why not proud to live in local area	NEW		Q42	NEW	Yes
Green	Satisfaction with green and natural spaces	NEW		Q43	NEW	Yes
Greensat	Why satisfied with green spaces	NEW				Yes
Greendis	Why dissatisfied with green spaces	NEW				Yes
Art	Opportunities for arts activities in local area	NEW		Q47	NEW	Yes
ArtFreq	Whether/how often participated in arts activities in local area last 12 months	NEW		Q48	NEW	Yes
Heritage	Access to local heritage/historical sites	NEW		Q49	NEW	Yes
HeritageFreq	Frequency of visiting local heritage/historical sites	NEW		Q50	NEW	Yes
Museum	Access to local museums	NEW		Q51	NEW	Yes
MuseumFreq	Frequency of visiting local museums	NEW		Q52	NEW	Yes
SportsTP	Access to participate in local sports/exercise	NEW		Q53	NEW	Yes
SportsTPFreq	Frequency of participation in local sports/exercise	NEW		Q54	NEW	Yes
SportsWatch	Access to watch local sports	NEW		Q55	NEW	Yes
SportsWatchFreq	Frequency of watching local sports	NEW		Q56	NEW	Yes
Assets2_Child	Amenities related to children in 15-10 minute walk	NEW				Yes
LifeQchild	Attitude statements about children’s quality of life	NEW				Yes
Affordchild	Attitude statements about affordability of bringing up children	NEW				Yes
LIBRARYINTRO	Library intro (if visited in last 12m)	NEW
CLIBRARY1	Ways used public library (physically)	NEW
CLIBDIG	Ways used public library digitally/online	NEW
WellB1	Satisfaction with life nowadays			Q57		Yes
WellB4	Feel things in life are worthwhile			Q58		Yes
WellB2	Level of happiness			Q59		Yes
WellB3	Level of anxiety			Q60		Yes
Lon1	Frequency of lacking companionship			Q61
Lon2	Frequency of exclusion			Q62
Lon3	Frequency of isolation			Q63
LonOft	Frequency of loneliness			Q64		Yes
QASB1	Witnessed ASB in local area?	NEW		Q65	NEW	Yes
QASB2	Is ASB problem in local area	NEW		Q66	NEW	Yes
QASB3	What ASB problems in local area?	NEW		Q67	NEW	Yes
InternetUse	Used internet last 12 months	NEW		Q70	NEW	Yes
QScreenA-E	Screen time different activities	NEW	Group 2
IntUsage1	Activities online (any device)	NEW	Group 2
IntUsage2	More activities online (any device)	NEW	Group 2
IntroHTen2	Section intro			Section 16 intro		Yes
HTen1	House tenure	Change to answer codes: answer code 2 changed to ‘Owns with a mortgage or loan’; simplified brackets within answer code 4 - ‘Rents it…’; removal of ‘Squatting’ as an answer code- now a single answer code 5 for ‘Lives here rent free’; removal of ‘DK’ answer code.		Q68		Yes
HLLord	Who is landlord?			Q69		Yes
Ethnic	Ethnic group	New DK code		Q71-72		Yes
CitZen	Citizenship			Q73
SMain	Main language
SGood	English speaking level
Relig	Religion	New DK code		Q74		Yes
RelAct	Actively practising religion?
GHealth	General health			Q75	NEW	Yes
DIll	Physical or mental conditions	New DK code		Q76		Yes
DIll2	Impact of conditions			Q77		Yes
QHealthM	Mental health status
QHealthW	Mental health conditions
QHealthD	Diagnosed mental health conditions
RCare	Carer?	Question now asks about offering care to anyone, not just family members or close relatives. Answer codes now include bands for the amount of time spent caring (5 different bands) as well as ‘No’, ‘Prefer not to say’ and ‘DK’. - removes need for previous follow-up RCareHrs.
SId	Sexuality
QWORK	Working status	Now one question with 12 answer codes - ask all, as opposed to being split into various yes/no questions asked earlier in the survey, then filtered.		Q78	NEW	Yes
JSHrs	Hours worked per week	NEW		Q84	NEW	Yes
STUDY	Education status	Question wording changed to ask about part-time and full-time education - therefore answer codes changed to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ rather than ‘yes-full time’, ‘yes-part-time’ and ‘no’.		Q79	NEW
JOBEVER	Ever done paid work	Routing changed slightly due to changes at Qwork.
STAT	Employee or self-employed in past	Routing changed slightly due to changes at Qwork.
SVise	Responsibility for other employees (Y/N)
EmpNo	No. of people supervised
SENo	No. of people employed	Routing changed slightly due to changes at Qwork and removal of Solo.
OCC	Work type	Respondents now asked to select their type of work from a list of 8 categories - formerly used to select an organisation type, then asked to enter their job title and descriptions in open text answers.
QPWork	Partner’s working status	NEW		Q89	NEW	Yes
Workplace	Work locations (home, office etc.)	NEW		Q80	NEW	Yes
Workloc	Distance from home to workplace - question wording based on Workplace/Workplacemc answers	NEW		Q81-83	NEW	Yes
JobProd	Job satisfaction attitudes 1	NEW		Q85	NEW	Yes
JobFind	Reasons among economically active why not in work	NEW		Q86	NEW	Yes
JobConf	Confidence about applying for new jobs	NEW		Q87	NEW	Yes
Q1A	Confidence re life skills	NEW		Q88	NEW	Yes
Apprent	Completed apprenticeship	Now ASK ALL about apprenticeships- for example trade, advanced, foundation, modern - as a separate question - answer codes yes or no. (formerly ‘trade apprenticeships’ was included in a list where respondent could ‘select the first one’ they had passed.)				Yes
Degree	Degree status	Now ASK ALL about qualifications at a degree level or above (inc nursing) as a separate question - answer codes yes or no. (formerly first degree and post-graduate degrees were separate answer codes on a list where respondent is asked to select the first one they have passed).		Q90	NEW	Yes
Quals	Other qualifications			Q91	NEW	Yes
INCOMEPERIOD	Income period HH
INCOMEA	Annual income HH
INCOMEM	Monthly income HH	Answer code 1 updated to read ‘Up to £316’
INCOMEW	Weekly income HH
INCOMEXPERIOD	Income period Personal			Q92	NEW	Yes
INCOMEXA	Annual income Personal			Q92	NEW	Yes
INCOMEXM	Monthly income Personal	Answer code 1 updated to read ‘Up to £316’		Q92	NEW	Yes
INCOMEXW	Weekly income Personal			Q92	NEW	Yes
FinMan	How managing financially	NEW		Q93	NEW	Yes
Lifesat	Life satisfaction related to income, job, health	NEW		Q94	NEW	Yes
FOLLOWUP	Keeping details for follow-up research - KP			Q96		Yes
FOLLOWUP2	Keeping details for follow-up research - Other			Q97		Yes
RecontactName	Recontact details			Name collected at Q95	NEW	Yes
GiveTel	Recontact telephone number			Q98		Yes
PEREMAIL	Recontact email to give (Y/N)					Yes
EMAIL	Recontact email					Yes
QFraud	Confirming honesty of answers	Wording change and change to answer codes- now 2 codes - yes and no.		Q99 is akin to this		Yes
QFraudName	Name to submit answers	Respondent asked to input their full name (open text) to confirm they are happy to submit.				Yes

Questions removed from 2023/24 questionnaire

The following questions from the 2021/22 the Community Life Survey online questionnaire have been removed from the 2023/24 version:

Question name (online survey)	Description	Reason for removal
SEX2-10	Sex of other members of the household	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
DVAGE2-10	Age of other members of the household	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
AGEIF32-310	Banded age of other household members if raw age is refused	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
IntuseB	Whether use the internet at home, work or elsewhere	Has been replaced with a new set of questions about internet usage (see InternetUse).
IntOft	Frequency of internet usage	Has been replaced with a new set of questions about internet usage (see IntUsage1-2).
DWorkA	Whether currently have a paid job	Removed as used to route participants into the employee volunteering questions, which have been deleted.
DWorkA1	Employed or self-employed	Removed as used to route participants into the employee volunteering questions, which have been deleted.
DWorkA2	Whether became self-employed in last 12 months	Removed as used to route participants into the employee volunteering questions, which have been deleted.
Vnbv	Importance of having opportunities to mix with people from other backgrounds	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
GEmpVol2	Participation in employer supported volunteering	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
GOften	Frequency of employer supported volunteering	Question used infrequently for internal/external analysis, therefore removed for the 23/24 survey year to allow room for new questions.
GivMon	Charity sectors given money to	Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) UK Giving reports are used as the key source of data for charitable giving in the UK, therefore only core questions on giving have been retained in the CLS and remainder removed to allow room for new questions not covered by other national surveys.
Caus4w	Charity causes given money to	Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) UK Giving reports are used as the key source of data for charitable giving in the UK, therefore only core questions on giving have been retained in the CLS and remainder removed to allow room for new questions not covered by other national surveys.
TEUse2	What would encourage you to donate/donate more to charity	Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) UK Giving reports are used as the key source of data for charitable giving in the UK, therefore only core questions on giving have been retained in the CLS and remainder removed to allow room for new questions not covered by other national surveys.
RCareHrs	Number of hours per week spend caring	This question has been merged with Rcare to align with the GSS unpaid care harmonised standard.
Wrking	Currently employed or self-employed	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
JbAway	Has a job or business they were away	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
	from
OwnBus	Any unpaid work for own business	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
RelBus	Any unpaid work for family-owned business	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
Looked	Did you look for paid work in last 4 weeks	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
StartJ	Would you have been able to start job/government training in 2 weeks	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
LKTime	How long have you been looking for paid work/training	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
Whynlk	Main reason you did not look for job/training	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
Whynsrt	Main reason you would not have been able to start work within 2 weeks	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
LeavWkM	In what month left last paid job	Removed as we only need to know if they have worked in the last 12 months or longer ago.
Leavwk	In what year left last paid job	Removed as we only need to know if they have worked in the last 12 months or longer ago.
OcOrg	Type(s) of organisation working/worked for	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
OccT	Job title (used to derive SOC and NS-SEC)	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
OccD	Job details	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
FtPtWk	Working full time or part time	Removed as we have moved to using the ONS self-coded occupation measure.
Ifpqual	Do you have any qualifications?	Questions on qualifications have been restructured to improve user experience (see Apprent, Degree and Quals).
Edqual	Highest qualification held	Questions on qualifications have been restructured to improve user experience.

The following questions from the Community Life survey 2021/22 paper questionnaire have been removed from the 2023/24 version:

Question number (paper survey)	Online equivalent question name	Description
Q7	DWorkA	Whether currently have a paid job
Q8	DWorkA1	Employed or self-employed
Q9	IntUseB	Whether use the internet at home, work or elsewhere
Q10	IntOft	Frequency of internet usage
Q27	Vnbv	Importance of having opportunities to mix with people from other backgrounds
Q42	GivMon	Charity sectors given money to
Q44	TEUse2	What would encourage you to donate/donate more to charity
Q63	EdQual	Highest qualification